The rise and fall of Aryzta’s food empire

After painfully hitting rock bottom, the question is how the company is going to pick itself up again

The past four years have seen Aryzta engulfed in crises, as sales and profits slumped and its balance sheet became weighed down by debt.

For a little over a century, the property at 151 Thomas Street in the Liberties area of Dublin was synonymous with the small, sleepy Irish Agricultural & Wholesale Society (IAWS), which bought and sold fertiliser and animal feed stocks on behalf of farmers.

For most of that time, behind the ornate doors and stained-glass windows of the building, there was little to mark out the company that would one day grow to be among the ...